Page 116 - Demo

116from the Tactical Weapons Unit at Chivenor and two senior instructors from No 4 FTS at Valley. We flew out in our own Jetstream, piloted by myself and my colleague, which hopefully created a favourable initial impre8ssion with our hosts on arrival. The visit was fasc8inating and entertaining, we flew into some dramatic airfields amongst the Alps %u2013 like Sion. The Swiss Air Force still flew Venoms and Hunters and was looking forward to acquiring a more modern fast jet trainer than the Venom. We were flown in PC7 trainers around the mountains and witnessed air to ground gunnery and rocket firing from Hunters at an amazing mountain top weapons range. Although the Swiss Air Force now no longer operates the Hawk, I believe our visit was a useful exercise in smoothing the introduction of a new type into the Swiss inventory. In conclusion, these visits undoubtedly assisted foreign air forces by allowing an outside independent audit of their work to be undertaken, and enhanced the reputation of the RAF and the CFS abroad and, at times, assisted the British aircraft industry. There is no doubt, however, that by the late 1980s British influence in many of the overseas air forces that had close ties to the RAF in their early days was on the wane. Other nations%u2019 influence, particularly those who provided technical assistance and equipment, was clearly taking over in many areas once considered traditional British territory. Today, some twenty years on from my time as OC Examining Wing, with the reduction in size and authority of CFS, which has lost its one8star, its Royal patronage and its dedicated operating base, I suspect that the RAF and CFS%u2019s influence on overseas air forces has reduced even further.Final %u2013 Sion airfield.